1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a still camera having a photographing lens barrel collapsible with respect a camera housing.
2. Related Background Art
A conventional still camera of this type is exemplified by a collapsible barrel type camera disclosed in, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,258,998. In the collapsible barrel type camera, a photographing lens is moved to a position spaced apart from a photographing plane to take a picture. However, when the camera is not used, the photographing lens is moved near the photographing plane. Another conventional still camera of this type is exemplified by a bifocal camera disclosed in, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,597,657. In the bifocal camera, a photographing lens is constituted by a master lens and a conversion lens. A first focal length is obtained by only the master lens. After the master lens is spaced by a predetermined length apart from the photographing plane along the optical axis, the conversion lens is located behind the master lens to obtain a second focal length. In the bifocal camera, in a telephoto mode the master lens is moved to an extended position away from the photographing plane. However, in a wide angle mode, the master lens is moved to a withdrawn position near the photographing plane.
When such cameras are not used, the lens is desirably held in the withdrawn position to protect the lens.
A collapsible lens camera having a protective cover for covering the front surface of the lens is also known, as described in Japanese Patent Disclosure (Kokai) No. 22039/1984. Upon manual operation of the protective cover, the lens is electrically collapsed or extended.
Conventional compact lens shutter cameras each with a flash device are known. The flash device has a light-emitting window to be moved in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis of the lens. The light-emitting window extends from the camera housing so as to achieve picture-taking with the flash device.